‘We lost 12st on the sister pact diet’

Anne, Sonya and Diane did everything together – they found love, became mums and got fat. The sisters tried – and failed – at every diet going, until there was just one thing they could rely on to trim their figures... girl power!

By Susie Bowers, 15/11/2009

'MY SIZE-22 BODY LEFT ME DEPRESSED'

Name: Anne Power, 37, a dental hygienist from Brampton, Cumbria

Weight before: 15st

Weight now: 8st 10lb

"I'd been fat ever since I'd first got pregnant. I took the phrase 'eating for two' literally. By the time I'd had my third baby in 2006, I was a size 22 and weighed 15st - far too heavy for my 4ft 11in height.

My weight gain left me shunning my husband and on medication for depression. Then my GP told me I was clinically obese. As his words rung in my ears, it felt like I'd been physically punched. I spiralled further into depression and my marriage began to crumble.

Then, in October 2007, I saw a photo of me and my sisters taken before a night out - we all looked fat and old. Something inside me snapped. I knew I had to sort my weight out. I owed it to my kids - Alice, now 11, Millie, seven, and Ruby, three - and my husband Huw, 46. And the first people I turned to for support were the women in the photo with me - Sonya and Diane.

As soon as I told Diane I was going on a diet, she said she'd been considering it too. Sonya wasn't so keen, as she'd just fallen off the slimming wagon. But Diane and I were determined. Diane began a Weight Watchers plan and I went on the Cambridge Diet - a meal-replacement plan suggested by my GP. My target was to get to a size 10. That's the size I was when I married Huw in June 1996.

The first week I went to bed every night crying with hunger after having just three milkshakes or cups of soup a day. But after a month, I'd lost 1st. Sonya was so impressed, she decided to try it - and our 'sister pact' was born. We vowed to support each other.

There were many dark times when I felt I couldn't go on, but my sisters were there to help me. And after six months, I'd lost 4st.

Diane was finding her diet plan easier, so I decided to switch. It meant I could eat proper low-fat food again and I also started going to an exercise class.

It's taken two years, but I've done it - I'm 6st lighter, I'm off antidepressants and I have a whole new wardrobe of size 10 clothes. Plus my marriage is back on track - Huw can't keep his hands off me!"

'I'LL BE A SIZE 10 FOR MY WEDDING'

Name: Sonya Walker, 26, a play leader at an after-school club from Carlisle, Cumbria

Weight before: 16st 5lb

Weight now: 13st 5lb

"When I ordered the 12in pepperoni pizza with extra cheese, I knew the skinny waitress was thinking: 'You shouldn't be eating that.' And she was right. I was 5ft 6in, weighed 16st 5lb, and was a size 20. I was out for dinner with my sisters, who weren't exactly slim themselves. I could almost feel the staff sniggering at the 'fat family'. It was so humiliating. It's not as though I liked being big - I'd tried diets before, but they'd never worked.

I could never imagine returning to the slim size 10 I'd been before having my children - Sophie, six, and Joshua, four. My partner Pete, 30, and I spent weekends slobbing out on the sofa eating takeaways, and he seemed to have no problem with my ever-expanding waistline. So I'd stopped caring too.

When Anne announced that she was going on a diet, I said: 'Good luck to you.' None of us had ever managed to stick to one before - why would now be any different? Then Diane said she was going to do it with her. When I met up with them a month later, I couldn't believe the difference. 'If they can do it, I can,' I said to myself. We agreed we'd lose weight together.

I joined Slimming World in February 2008. As an incentive, I decided I wanted to get into my sisters' old clothes! They'd pass things on that were too large for them. I had my eye on one of Anne's shirts - a gorgeous size 14 pink blouse - and within a few months, I could wear it. When I felt like quitting, I'd text them for support. I've lost 3st so have a little way to go to hit my 11st target. But now I have an extra incentive - Pete proposed in August and I'm determined to get married in a size 10 wedding dress!"

'I WENT FROM A SIZE 14 TO AN 8'

Name: Diane Shaw, 43, an office manager from Keswick, Cumbria

Weight before: 11st 7lb

Weight after: 7st 12lb

"As I sat at my desk, tucking into my healthy lunch of sandwiches and fruit, the smell of chocolate cake wafted by. It was somebody's birthday and they'd brought in cake - I was helpless to resist.

I'm 5ft 2in and had been a slim size 10 for most of my adult life, even after I'd had my children - Ryan, 23, Nick, 21, and Kate, 19. But once I took my job as an office manager 12 years ago, the birthday celebrations and nights out meant I'd crept up to a curvy size 14. My weight was wrecking my confidence and self-esteem. My husband John, 46, still complimented me, but I knew I could do with losing more than a few pounds.

I'd never dieted before, so when Anne said she was going on a diet, I decided to join her.

I'd imagined I was about 10st, but at my first Weight Watchers meeting I stepped on the scales and the needle stopped at 11st 7lb - I was mortified! But in seven months, thanks to changing to a low-fat diet, I hit my target weight of 9st. A lot of that is down to my sisters. Although we haven't been competitive, we've been accountable to each other - which has really driven me.

I've taken up running and have lost a further 1st. John runs too, which has been great for us as a couple. And as for my old size 10 clothes, I'll give them to Sonya - I'm a size 8 now!"